Freight car door fitting



Sept. 11, 1951 M. PARKER ET AL FREIGHT CAR DOOR FITTING Filed May 16, 1947 FIG. I.

MILTON PARKER HENRY c. BOWDEN Patented Sept. 11, 1951 FREIGHT CAR DOOR FITTING Milton Parker and Henry C. Bowden, Baltimore, Md.

Application May 16, 1947, Serial No. 748,486

1 Claim. 1

This invention refers to railroad equipment and more particularly to the doors and doorways used on freight cars.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved freight car doorway that will avoid one or more of the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved door way for a freight car that will work more eiiectively and conveniently than types now in general use.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved doorway for a freight car that will enable boards to be used for preventing leakage of the cargo, at this doorway.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the invention is further detailed.

For a better understanding of the invention and its objects and principles, reference is made to the appended drawings, in which a particular form of the invention is indicated as an example of a structure embodying its features. The following specification describes this structure in the drawings while the claim defines the scope of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a freight car door embodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view of a modified form of door.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, a doorway I is shown in the lateral wall ll of a freight car I2. The doorway is provided with a framework I3 that fits its sides. This framework has vertical side plates I4 in which grooves [5 are impressed to take boards I6 aligned horizontally in them. The channels are so recessed that they do not occupy any space in the opening of the doorway sufiicient to decrease its usable area. The channel grooves are each arranged with an angular entrance groove I! that permits boards l6 to be inserted in and guided into the main groove 15 in each instance. The channel grooves l5 are made to suit the thickness of boards used. These boards are placed one above oralongside the other until they close on the whole opening and keep the contents within the freight car from leaking out.

Previously the boards were nailed to the doorway and walls of the freight car and were longer than the opening in order to do so. This incurred serious damage to the cars and boards as the nails were put in and removed, and has made the maintenance costs considerable. This invention makes the doorway stronger and better able to withstand its regular usage and allows boards much shorter than previously required to be used. The boards are not damaged by such insertion and suifer only that arising from normal wear and tear. The work is done much quicker by the use of the invention, both in the insertion of the boards and their removal. The invention is readily installed at very reasonable cost. It enables the boards to be inserted and employed to completely fill the opening within the doorway and without the use of any nails or other fastenings. The screws 18 are inserted through holes 26 in the channels to hold the latter to the doorway. The top and bottom plates [9 hold the side channels to complete the framework [3. The flanges 20 enable the framework to encircle the sides of the doorway and protect it, as well as hold the framework thereto.

In Figure 4 the modified form of the bottom and top plates i9 are grooved at 2'2 like the vertical sides. This permits the boards to be positioned in the frame vertically as well as horizontally, whichever is considered preferable at the time of use.

The car door 24 is of conventional construction and held against the car front by a. 2 iron 26. The car door is limited in its closing travel by stops 21.

While but two general forms of the invention are shown in the drawings and described in the specifications it is not desired to limit this application for patent to this particular form or in any other way otherwise than limited by the scope of the claim, as it is appreciated that other forms could be made that would use the same principles and come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

The combination with a box car having a rectangular door opening and an outer sliding door, of a sectional door comprising a rectangular framework in said opening having an inner channel embedded in the vertical and horizontal walls of the car and side flanges on each side of the channel embracing the adjoining outer faces of the car walls, means for securing said channel to the car walls, a plurality of stacked-up, horizontally placed one-piece boards across the opening having their outer ends received in the 0pposed vertical channels and held between the flanges of the channel, the lower and upper boards having their outer longitudinal edges received in the opposed horizontal channels and held between the flanges of the channel, said channels having angular entrance grooves to guide the entry of the boards in said channels, the sliding door being closable over said sectional door.

MILTON PARKER.

HENRY C. BOWDEN.

4 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 123,056 Stahlnecker Jan. 23, 1872 232,573 Toney Sept. 21, 1880 910,010 Mackridge Jan. 19, 1909 1,415,746 Watson May 9, 1922 1,458,327 Dahlen June 12, 1923 1,820,098 Storm Aug. 25, 1931 1,908,698 Edwards May 16, 1933 2,194,230 Lewis Mar. 19, 1940 

